Thu, 21 Mar 2019 18:55:22 +0100http://www.littleboboon.com
frhttp://www.eklablog.comhttp://www.littleboboon.com/penha-longa-resort-a129908174
Penha Longa Hotel and Resort is ideally located in the middle of a natural parc of Sintra, It's a five-star resort and probably one of the most beautiful resorts in Portugal.

Our stay from April 8th to 15th, 2017 was delightful but punctuated by small incidents due to a disorganised and an unstructured staff.

We spoke to Susana Mata, P.A. to the resort's General Manager, about those incidents and how a few little mishaps can spoil a great holidays for the guests. Below, are a few examples

of what happened to our family :

On our first night we were surprised to find our room without an extra bed for our six-year-old boy (even though we made a reservation through Expedia for two adults and one child) and when we asked for the extra bed we were told that there would be an extra charge of 40€ per night, which of course we did not agree to. Between the hotel and the travel agency, we don't really know who thought it would be OK for our son to sleep where? On the floor? With us? When we book a room for three, guess what: we expect the room to actually accommodate three.

One afternoon, we asked for a kitchen knife to be brought to our room, so we could peel an apple for our son. “Right away, Sir”. Half an hour later... we decided to go down to the reception to ask for it again.

When we checked out, our invoice showed a 73€ charge for dinner at the B-Lounge on our last evening on Friday the 14th 2017 even though we actually had dinner at another restaurant in the hotel: LAB by Sergi AROLA, which also showed on our invoice. After we mentioned the discrepancy to the staff, they checked the receipts, realised the mistake and apologized.

We also had to wait 30 minutes for a staff member to bring the car around. It would have been quicker to just go get the car ourselves. Thank God our flight was much later in the evening.

As we mentionned to Susanna Mata, a five-star hotel should focus on the quality of the service – quality is in the details -- and each guest should be treated as a valuable member and not just a customer or a consumer.

We hope our feedback will help Penha Longa Resort's management and staff improve, restructure and refocus on a service based on quality, not quantity.

Article original rédigé par littleboboon et publié sur Life Style for Traveler & Gourmet Reproduction interdite sans autorisation]]>Sun, 16 Apr 2017 22:09:24 +0200http://www.littleboboon.com/penha-longa-resort-a129908174littleboboon2017-04-16T22:09:24+02:00http://www.littleboboon.com/manuel-monika-vienna-s-apartment-a129211112
If you’re going to Vienna for a weekend, let us give you a good piece of advice: rent Manuela and Monika’s magnificent apartment located on Graf Starhemberg Grasse, which is walking distance to the main train station Wien Hauptbahnhof.

Manuela and Monika have two beautiful apartments in the building: a one-bedroom on the first floor and a two-bedrooms on the fourth floor.

We rented the one-bedroom on the first floor which has a very nice terrace. The apartment is very well equipped, light, superbly designed, furnished and spotless clean

Manuela and Monika have paid attention to every tiny detail for the comfort of their guests: Vienna guides in English, French, Spanish and German, a few well-selected books/novels, wi-fi connection, cable TV with the main international channels, a very nice kitchen with Nespresso coffee machine, a supply of capsules and a variety of other supplies like small wine bottles, tea bags in the kitchen; plus a hair-dryer, toothbrush/toothpaste, body lotion and skin care cream in the bathroom.

They also have a small corner near the entrance where guests can find umbrellas on the way out or take off their shoes and coats before proceeding into the rest of the apartment. They even have scooters in case you feel like discovering the city in a more sporty style!

It was probably the best and the most beautiful apartment we have rented so far for a weekend.

APARTMENTBERLIN

Monika GRÛNEIS (+4369910262158)

Manuela K. FISHER (+436643430958)

landladies@apartment-berlin.wien

Graf-StarHemberg-Gasse 17/4

A-1040 Wien

Article original rédigé par littleboboon et publié sur Life Style for Traveler & Gourmet Reproduction interdite sans autorisation]]>Thu, 23 Mar 2017 14:01:29 +0100http://www.littleboboon.com/manuel-monika-vienna-s-apartment-a129211112littleboboon2017-03-23T14:01:29+01:00http://www.littleboboon.com/off-paris-seine-a127922850
Opt for Hotel Paris Off Seine, the first floating hotel on the Seine river in Paris, if you want to spend a few nights in a cozy atmosphere by the river with a trendy setting and a beautiful view of the Austerlitz train station and its dock.

The hotel has 54 rooms and 4 suites, a nice bar for cocktails with an incredible view, a restaurant where you can have tapas or a nice brunch on the weekend looking at the heated pool.

The hotel is perfectly conceived and designed by the architect Gérard Ronzatti.

It’s a perfect setting for a romantic weekend or just for a night out for fun or out-of-the-ordinary, the standard rooms are 15 square meters and the suite 28 square meters, all the rooms are extremely comfortable and well isolated from the environment outside.

Prices are reasonable for a city like Paris; the standard rooms are priced between 120 Euros and 122 Euros (taxes included) and the suites are for 232 Euros.

The staff at the reception was very nice and welcoming; the atmosphere was relaxed and serene.

A good tip from us, if you take a cab to come to the hotel, you should tell the driver to stop in front of the train station Austerlitz on the number 5 of Quai Austerlit.

Before opening her own restaurant in 2012, she used to work for the famous Argentinian chef, Francis Mallmann. It was he who brought her to Uruguay in the first place.

Now, she’s on her own at Jacinto, where she puts into practice her years of experience in order to offer to Uruguayans locavore food with a creative twist that they did not use to taste before.

Jacinto is located in the Cuidad Vieja in Montevideo; the restaurant is beautifully designed in an old historic building.

The lunch menu offers at least six starters, six main dishes and six or seven desserts depending on the day.

It is rare in Uruguayan restaurants, but it has to be noticed that Jacinto makes its own bread. Most of the ingredients and groceries are organic and locally produced and supplied. Her cooking is fresh, generous and delicious.

The wine list is dominated – and rightly so -- by local wines with a few selections from Argentina and Chile.

The service is kind and efficient for Uruguay which, we noticed, is generally very slow.

Jacinto is a good place to have lunch while you are in Montevideo, the restaurant is open from Monday to Saturday and closed on Sunday for lunch and dinner.

Hotel Sant Joan de Binissaida is located in the small town of Es Castell on Menorca island. It’s branded a luxury agro-rural hotel with 12 rooms and a gastronomy cuisine.

Our family of three stayed in the Bach room (n°9) with a private terrace and countryside view. The room was ideal for a family our size.

The place is very beautiful with its pathways and manicured gardens, and best of all its 25-meter long swimming pool plus a kids area with a babyfoot table.

It has a gastronomy restaurant with a menu designed by the chef of the restaurant Ses Forquilles in Mahon. However the lunch price was a bit expensive for our taste. It is better to eat at Ses Forquilles.

We also found the pricing for the rooms extremely high for what it is. We got better rooms for half that price in other places in Spain or Portugal.

The service at the hotel is very helpful, service-oriented, charming and kind.

Menorca is a very beautiful island: it’s preserved and well maintained with nice beaches and incredible good food, it makes a perfect destination for short or long holidays for all.

Article original rédigé par littleboboon et publié sur Life Style for Traveler & Gourmet Reproduction interdite sans autorisation]]>Tue, 19 Jul 2016 16:32:28 +0200http://www.littleboboon.com/hotel-sant-joan-de-binissaida-a126440394littleboboon2016-07-19T16:32:28+02:00http://www.littleboboon.com/visca-barcelona-a125870064
The beauty of its architecture, the seafront with the blue view of the Mediterranean sea, the port with its mega yachts, the Camp Nou with its famous football club and famous football players and most of all the cool lifestyle of the Barcelonese, all of these make Barcelona a great city to visit and live in.

Here’s our must-do list for first time visitors and regular Barcelona lovers like us.

- Best Restaurants: Xiringuito Escriba for a wonderful paella by the beach; Ikibena for a fusion of Japanese and Brazilian food; Kaiku for the locavore seafood and homey cooking; Me for a creative Vietnamese cooking from the amazing chef, Thang Pham and of course, la Boqueria for the best tapas and local ambiance